


Painted Pride

by feathers_and_cigarettes



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Venom (Comics)
Genre: Asexual Venom symbiote, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Established Relationship, Everyone's retired, Fluff, M/M, Other, Pansexual Clint Barton, Pansexual Eddie Brock, Post Tales of Suspense, Post Venom comics, Pride, Pride flag colours, Secret Avengers 'verse, WinterHawk Bingo, idk where this fits into my big timeline but I'll figure it out, symbrock, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 15:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20584940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feathers_and_cigarettes/pseuds/feathers_and_cigarettes
Summary: It's Pride Week in Brooklyn and a few semi-retired superheroes rise to the occasion.





	Painted Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pherryt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/gifts).

> For the wonderful [Pherryt/Dragonpressgraphics!](http://pherryt.tumblr.com) The art at the beginning is hers, I'm a few months late with this ficlet, but please go send her wonderful things about her art! This is set some time during my Secret Avengers 'verse, and will likely go after my giant epic length fic in that 'verse, but have it now as a stand alone slice of life.
> 
> This is my free space for the [Winterhawk Bingo](http://winterhawkbingo.tumblr.com)
> 
> Follow me on [tumblr!](http://feathers-and-cigarettes.tumblr.com)

Clint finished tying the rainbow bandana around Lucky’s neck and ruffled the dog’s fluffy ears with a satisfied smile. He hadn’t ever been one for Pride Week, but the pizza place on the corner was offering free slices to anyone wearing Pride colours, and Clint was frankly easy like that.

Giving Lucky one last pat, he padded over to the kitchen island and inspected the t-shirt that had been set out to dry. The colours had surprisingly held, something Clint had been doubtful about when Kate had suggested the dye in the first place. He’d had to painstakingly bleach the purple arrow without getting too much of the black t-shirt itself, then lay in the colour twice before it stood out brightly against the dark background.

Okay, so he’d gotten bleach everywhere and ruined two t-shirts before Katie-Kate had grabbed the one remaining shirt and told Bucky to occupy him for two hours while she did the dying. Regardless of the methods, the shirt looked _great._

He gently tapped the pink third of the arrow and inspected his fingers to make sure the dye had dried fully before slipping the shirt on over his head. Whistling to Lucky, he grabbed the leash and clipped it to the bouncing golden’s collar before leaving his apartment and heading down the steps and outside.

“No, _Jesus_, give me that, you’re getting paint everywhere.”

“We are outdoors, what does it matter?”

Eddie threw Clint an amused look as Lucky barrelled into his legs. He knelt, adjusting the bedsheet they’d turned into a pan flag cape around his shoulders so Lucky wouldn’t get caught in it. “They’ve been bitching at each other for ten minutes,” he said, nodding over to where Bucky was trying to snatch a paintbrush away from the snarling symbiote. “They’re both takin’ it way too seriously.”

“It’s Bucky’s first Pride,” Clint pointed out, settling himself down on the stoop to watch his partner and the alien bicker. “Did you guys go much when you were out in San Francisco?”

“Once or twice,” Eddie replied, dodging Lucky’s happy hops so he didn’t get accidentally brained. “Pride wasn’t ever really my scene, y’know? I always felt kinda out of place. I usually do a few stories on the parade and events and shit but I’ve avoided it pretty well for a while. V’s fascinated with everything about it, but human sexuality’s so outrageous to it to begin with.”

The symbiote’s jaws snapped shut on Bucky’s arm, long fangs clanging off the matte vibranium and smudging the blue paint with its tongue. It shook its head and growled softly, using its tendril to stick the paintbrush into the headband dyed with asexual colours. Pink paint dripped just over the lidless white eyes and down the wide jaw before it was slowly absorbed by the symbiote’s skin.

Clint settled himself next to Bucky and inspected the arm. “Doesn’t look half bad, man,” he said, reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Bucky’s ear.

“This is such a weird concept. Here,” Bucky muttered, shoving the purple paintbrush into the symbiote’s fangs and picking up the blue. He twisted his wrist, frowning and generally taking the whole damned thing way too seriously. “I’m still not used to bein’ able to hold your goddamned hand in public; I keep waitin’ for someone to take a swing at me.”

“Yeah, right, like someone’s gonna try to hit you with that arm of yours. Plus you got me an’ Eddie here, who even without the Tapeworm’s the size of a fuckin’ redwood.”

The symbiote stretched out and painted a purple stripe down Clint’s cheek in response. It reached over with several thin tendrils and wrapped them around Eddie’s thigh, twitching at the cape and growling softly to itself.

“There will be no pizza left at this rate,” the symbiote muttered around the paintbrush, its lidless white eyes shrinking slightly at Eddie stroked the top of its head.

Bucky rolled his eyes and twisted his wrist around to fill in an empty patch of vibranium. “You fellas know we could have just ordered a bunch of pizzas for what the paint cost, right?”

Eddie barked a laugh and Clint cuffed his partner lightly upside the head, grinning as the paint stroke went wide. “Missin’ the point, Buck. It’s an experience, just trust me.”

“Isn’t that what you said about bein’ tossed into one of Hell’s Kitchen’s dumpsters last week?”

Okay, true, he _had _said that, but Manhattan dumpsters were always a refreshing change from his usual Brooklyn haunts. “This is a different kind of experience; tell ‘im, Brock.”

Eddie held up his hands and shook his head, the cape blowing a bit in the breeze and making him look like some sort of cranky bearded LGBT Superman. “We’re just coming along for the pizza and to get some photos for my article, nothing else.”

“And to provide superhero assistance if needed,” the symbiote added.

“We’re _retired_, love. Besides, word on the street is the Young Avengers have that covered.”

Bucky set the paintbrush down and gave his arm a critical look. “I think I’m done,” he said slowly, holding his arm out for Clint’s inspection.

Clint took Bucky’s hand, twining his fingers between the cool vibranium. He twisted the arm gently this way and that, schooling his face into serious neutrality. “I think…” he began, reaching out for a paintbrush and quickly sketching out a purple arrow over the dried pink paint on Bucky’s shoulder. “I think everyone’s gonna know you swing both ways.”

“Punk,” Bucky huffed, reaching out to smudge the paint on Clint’s cheek and pulling him in for a kiss. “And that I’m with the Amazing Hawkeye?”

“Probably should’ve painted the arrow on his ass,” Eddie commented from over Clint’s shoulder.

Clint grinned against Bucky’s lips and flipped Eddie off. “I’ll let you paint a star on mine if you want. Better not to leave any doubt.”

“Yeah? Remind me when we get back and I’ll see what I can do.”


End file.
